Virginia’s Most Effective Legislator: Emmett Hanger

Virginia’s most effective legislator: It helps to belong to the party in power.

Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, was the nation’s 10th most productive legislator serving in a state senate in 2018, according to FiscalNote, a consulting firm that uses real-time policy data to provide issues-management solutions.

A long-time veteran of the General Assembly, Hanger sponsored 444 bills during the multi-year time frame covered in FiscalNote’s analysis, 57% of which were passed. His top policy issues were agriculture, technology, and government administration. FiscalNote described the senior Republican lawmaker as an ideological “moderate.”

His closest bipartisan colleague was identified as Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. He was the only Virginia lawmaker to make the firm’s ranking of top 10 senators or representatives.

Hanger and other state legislators will be recognized at a Fiscal Note event in Washington, D.C., later this week.

Said Tim Hwang, FiscalNote CEO: “Despite the partisan politics that play out in Washington, the most productive state legislators are markedly balanced between party lines, demonstrating the importance of bipartisanship when addressing the most pressing issues facing our communities today.”

FiscalNote defines legislative productivity by how successful a legislator is at sponsoring and steering bills through each stage of the legislative process. The firm’s proprietary algorithm considers the quantity, endurance, and substantiveness of bills sponsored and introduced in state legislatures.

Legislators are scored higher if they sponsor more bills, if those bills are deemed substantive (not resolutions, memorials, or commendations), and how far the bills progress in the legislative process. An enacted bill is weighted more than a bill that makes it only to the senate floor.

2 responses to “Virginia’s Most Effective Legislator: Emmett Hanger”

Damn good thing the 1991 gerrymander which knocked him out of the House didn’t discourage Emmett, and four years later he ran for the Senate and came back. (Yes, Virginia, Democrats gerrymandered with abandon long ago, and will again if they get the chance…)

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